The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre a year ago renewed the national debate on guns and school safety, turned some victims' parents and surviving students into political activists and at least temporarily ended the local sheriff's career.
President Donald Trump called the occasion as 'somber anniversary' and vowed to 'recommit to ensuring the safety of all Americans,' while former President Barack Obama even praised the students' gun-control activism in a tweet, saying 'I'm proud of all of them.'
But Thursday's anniversary will primarily be about remembering the 14 students and three staff members who died in the third high-profile mass shooting in Florida since 2016.
Many Stoneman Douglas students arrived on campus Thursday wearing headphones and the burgundy #MSDStrong T-shirts that have become an emblem of the tragedy.
Outside the school, angel stakes for each of the 17 victims bordered the school's landscaped sign. While absenteeism was expected to be high Thursday, freshman Matthew Sabia said he attended to show support and participate in activities.
'I want to show respect to what happened. The students who were here are probably sad and don't want to think too much about it. We don't really talk about it,' he said.
Classes were almost over last Valentine's Day when authorities say a 19-year-old former student arrived on campus and began shooting.
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Victoria Gonzalez and Liam Kiernan, both of whom are students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, comfort each other on Thursday as they remember those lost during a mass shooting at the school in Parkland, Florida a year ago
Suzanne Devine Clark, an art teacher at Deerfield Beach Elementary School, places painted stones at a memorial outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the one-year anniversary of the school shooting on Thursday
Cheryl Rothenberg embraces her daughters Emma and Sophia as they view a memorial on the one year anniversary of the shooting which claimed 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida
Kul Bhushan Mody and his wife Kiran Bala Mody pray outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Thursday
Linda Beigel Schulman, mother of Scott Beigel, a geography teacher and cross country coach who was killed in last year's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, becomes emotional while speaking to the media about her son
A plaque for Jaime Guttenberg, one of the victims of the Parkland school shooting is shown at a memorial outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the one-year anniversary of the shooting
Margate Fire Rescue Community Emergency Response Team member Peter Palmer (left) wipes his eyes while looking at a memorial outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, as Kara Cannizzaro (right) crosses herself at the site
Jogger Kara Cannizzaro stopped Thursday morning to pray at the memorial outside the school. She says 'every single person of the community has been affected by this.'
Students also will perform service projects and observe a moment of silence and a non-denominational, temporary temple will open in neighboring Coral Springs for people to pay their respects. The structure will later be burned in a purification ceremony. Security throughout the community and at schools will be high.
Obama joined in on the memorials with a tweet reading: 'In the year since their friends were killed, the students of Parkland refused to settle for the way things are and marched, organized, and pushed for the way things should be - helping pass meaningful new gun violence laws in states across the country. I'm proud of all of them.'
President Donald Trump also weighed in, writing: 'On this somber anniversary, we honor their memory and recommit to ensuring the safety of all Americans, especially our Nation's children.'
Friends and loved ones of the victims took the opportunity to share memories that they will forever cherish.
Tori Gonzalez, 18, told the New York Times of her boyfriend, Joaquin Oliver, known as Guac, who was killed in the shooting just months before he was expected to graduate.
'I'm wearing his sweatshirt. I wear it all the time. I'm going to sound really cheesy, but from the moment we met I knew I was going to spend my life with him,' she said. 'Last year I was very sick at this time, and Joaquin was like, 'I really hope you feel better by Valentine's Day.' That day was the first day I went back to school. I'm really glad that I saw him that morning. That morning was probably the best day that we had together.'
Manuel Oliver, father of Parkland victim Joaquin Oliver, read a letter he says his son wrote for a class assignment when he was 12 years old, in 2013, pleading for background checks. 'My son was fighting for this way before me,' he said.
For many Parkland students, the tragedy was still so raw they couldn't bring themselves to set foot in the building.
Fewer than 300 of the 3,200 students at the high school showed up for what was only a half-day, with classes cut short so that the teenagers would not be there around 2:20 p.m., the traumatic moment last year when gunfire erupted.
Senior Spencer Bloom skipped school to spend the day with students from the history class he was in during the shooting. He said he struggles with panic attacks and feared he might have one if he went in to school.
'There's all this emotion and it's all being concentrated back on one day,' Bloom said.
A moment of silence was observed there and at other schools across Florida and beyond at 10:17 a.m., a time selected to denote the 17 slain.
Reporters were not allowed inside the school, but students packed lunches for poor children in Haiti as part of a number of volunteer projects undertaken to try to make something good come out of the tragedy.
Freshman Jayden Jaus, 14, said the moment of silence was 'a bit emotional and a little intense' as the principal read the victims' names over the public address system.
Devon Fuller puts a plant in the ground at a garden setup in memory of those lost during a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida
Sergio Rosenblat hugs Melaina Plough at a makeshift memorial in front of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Bouquets are placed at a memorial on campus on the one year anniversary of the shooting which claimed 17 lives
Attendees at several events to honor of the 17 that were killed during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting last year, hug as they gather on Thursday at Trails End Park in Parkland
Sophomore Julia Brighton, who suffered nightmares for months after the gunman killed three people in her classroom, placed flowers at the memorial outdoors instead of going inside and 'putting myself through that.'
Alexis Grogan, a junior, said she was spending the day picking up beach trash, dedicating her work to those who died.
'I survived something, and I don't want to waste what I call a second chance at life because those who have passed don't get that,' she said. 'We have to make a difference for them.'
Victims' families said they would spend the day quietly, visiting their loved ones' graves or participating in low-key events like a community walk.
Lori Alhadeff posted an open letter to her 14-year-old daughter Alyssa, who died in the shooting. Alhadeff remembered how Alyssa didn't want to go to school because she didn't have a Valentine. But when she dropped her daughter off, she put a pair of diamond earrings in Alyssa's ears and gave her a chocolate bar to make her smile.
They told each other, 'I love you,' and Alhadeff watched Alyssa walk away in a black and white dress and white sneakers: 'Your long, dark hair dangled. Your makeup looked just right.'
'The last time I saw you alive,' wrote Alhadeff, who was elected to the Broward County school board after the shooting on a platform pushing campus safety.
'We don't need (the anniversary) to remind us what happened. We live with it every day,' said businessman Andrew Pollack, whose 18-year-old daughter Meadow died in the attack.
He met with President Donald Trump at the White House after the shooting and became an adviser to Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and his predecessor, Rick Scott.
Other fathers like Fred Guttenberg and Manuel Oliver have become active in Democratic politics.
David Hogg has struggled with his grief while emerging as a prominent student activist who co-founded the March for Our Lives movement.
'We can't move on from this, when it's something that never should have happened,' he told reporters this week, saying he planned to spend the day quietly with family. 'You can't move on from your sister constantly crying, every day, because she doesn't have her four best friends anymore.'
After his 14-year-old son, Alex, was shot dead in English class, Max Schachter left his work in insurance to focus on school safety. As the first anniversary approached, with his wife and other children still processing their loss, he noted there is no blueprint for getting through challenging days of mourning.
'To me, it's just another day that I don't have my little boy. Every day is hard,' he said. 'It's horrible. No one ever thinks that they're going to send their kid off to school and then they not come home.'
Police officers guard the entrance of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Thursday
Students arrive to school on the one year anniversary of the shooting which claimed 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas
Students walk to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the one-year anniversary of the school shooting on Thursday
Sandy Pohl (left) and Tom Gilmartin, both school crossing guards at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, pay their respects at a memorial set up for those killed a year ago in Parkland, Florida
Wendy Behrend, a school crossing guard who was on duty one year ago when a shooter opened fire in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, pays her respects at a memorial for those killed
People visit a makeshift memorial in front of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Thursday
Victims' relatives from both sides of the political aisle helped lead the successful push to remove Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.
DeSantis suspended the Democratic sheriff last month, citing incompetence in his handling of the shooting. Israel is fighting the suspension in the state Senate and says he will try to win back the office in next year's election.
The massacre also led some Stoneman Douglas students to form the group 'March for Our Lives,' which holds rallies nationwide calling for tougher gun regulations and toured the country registering young adults to vote.
'It was the kids themselves that made Parkland an unusual shooting,' said Adam Winkler, a professor at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law and gun rights expert.
Just in Florida, 49 people died in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando and five died at Fort Lauderdale's airport in 2017.
There have been other notable mass shootings across the country during that period - at a Las Vegas concert, a Pittsburgh synagogue and a Texas high school. But none resonated politically like Stoneman Douglas.
'What we haven't seen is a mobilization of the students in quite the same way,' Winkler said.
Maverick is covered in kisses as people pet him while visiting a memorial setup near Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in memory of those lost during a mass shooting at the school
A volunteer with a therapy dog arrives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the one-year anniversary of the school shooting. Volunteers will also offer massages and manicures to students stressed by the memorial
People visit a makeshift memorial in front of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Thursday
Painted stones at a memorial outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are shown during the one-year anniversary of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla. A year ago on Thursday, 14 students and three staff members were killed
But Thursday will be mostly a day to push aside politics. Victims' families who have spoken publicly say they will spend the day quietly, visiting their loved one's grave or participating in low-key events like a community walk.
'We are going to simply reflect and remember,' said Tony Montalto, president of the victims' families' organization, Stand With Parkland. 'That is the best thing.' Montalto's 14-year-old daughter Gina died in the shooting.
At Stoneman Douglas, students will mark the tragedy by working on service projects. They also can receive mental health counseling and visit therapy dogs. Volunteers will provide massages and manicures.
Mickey Pope, the district's chief of student-support services, said the staff worked with mental health counselors, community groups, the victims' families and others for four months to devise a plan they believe will honor those killed and allow students and staff to mourn.
Still, many Stoneman Douglas students are skipping school. For some it's too emotional; others don't want to be in the spotlight.
Alexis Grogan, a junior, said she'll spend the day picking up beach trash, dedicating her work to those who died.
'I survived something and I don't want to waste what I call a second chance at life because those who have passed don't get that,' she said. 'We have to make a difference for them.'
In Coral Springs, San Francisco-area artist David Best will open 'The Temple of Time,' which at 1,600 square feet represents the indefinite period it will take for the community to come to grips with the slayings. It's an Asian design with a spire roof that has intricate designs cut into it.
People visit the 'Temple of Time' in Coral Springs on Thursday. The Temple of the Time was built by the artist David Best to pay tribute to victims of the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
Artist David Best plans to burn down the temple in May in a 'purification' ceremony in honor of the victims
California artist David Best talks about how he is building a non-denominational, temporary temple for the anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting massacre, on February 5 in Coral Springs, Florida
Best rejected naming it 'The Temple of Healing' because he said that is impossible for the victims and their families.
Since 2000, he has built such temples worldwide, including in Northern Ireland for those killed in political strife and in Nepal for the 2015 earthquake victims.
Like those structures, the Stoneman Douglas temple will be burned along with whatever mementos, writings and art that mourners leave behind. That ceremony will happen in May.
Most construction materials and other expenses are being paid by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's public arts foundation, but neither Best nor his workers are paid.
'When the smoke goes up and the flames go up, it will have a great meaning,' said volunteer Tony Bianco, an Army veteran and artist from Coral Gables.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/15/parkland-one-year-on-students-pause-to-commemorate-the-17-killed/
Main photo article The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre a year ago renewed the national debate on guns and school safety, turned some victims’ parents and surviving students into political activists and at least temporarily ended the local sheriff’s career.
President Donald Trump called...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/14/17/9825754-6704765-image-a-26_1550165282145.jpg
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